


Presence

by BiffElderberry



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, haunted doll - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 10:32:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15727617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BiffElderberry/pseuds/BiffElderberry
Summary: Faye was used to having spirits in her house. They came in on everyday items, even buying things new didn’t stop them. They would move things around or be present at random. Faye was used to them. She just wasn't used to them courting her.





	Presence

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sweetcarolanne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetcarolanne/gifts).



> Originally I planned to write the prompt for the spammer/spambaiter (or whatever it was I'm not looking at the assignment page right now) but I really loved this one. I had a blast writing it, and I hope you enjoy reading it!

Faye almost dropped her stack of packages as she let herself into her apartment.

 

“Sorry,” she apologized to the boxes. She hadn’t gotten a hit of any spiritual activity off any of them when she had gotten them from her P.O. box, but she’d rather apologize to an inanimate object than offend a spirit she hadn’t met yet.

 

Faye dropped them off on the side table next to her favorite chair to film in and went to go change her clothes and do her makeup. Once done, she set up her camera and lights and settled into her chair.

 

“Hello, everyone,” she started, smiling at the camera. “I got a few packages today and thought you might like to see them.” She reached for the first box. “This one is from Penelope,” she read off the shipping label.

 

Faye had been rather surprised when her simple Youtube channel had gotten more than 10,000 viewers. She had been even more surprised when one of her viewers asked if she could send Faye something she thought was haunted.

 

Faye grabbed the jeweled letter opener from the table to slice through the tape. It was a cheap blade, the jewels actually rhinestones, but it filmed well, and it was all about the aesthetics.

 

When Faye had first started communicating with spirits on camera she hadn’t looked the part. She wore simple blue jeans and a t-shirt, sitting in a folding chair, and the crystals on the shelf behind her were actually useful if not aesthetically pleasing. She had since then learned to look the part, changing into long, flowing skirts and bulky jewelry, finding the antique looking bulky chair at a flea market, and adding color enhanced quartz to her rock shelf. It was all for show really, but she had had a jump in subscribers after that.

 

Finally, Faye made it through the layers of tape surrounding the small box and was able to open it. She carefully drew the necklace out of the box. She admire it for a moment, wrapping the chain around her fingers.

 

“This is quite lovely,” she said, holding the necklace up for the camera. She brought it close to the lens, blocking some of the light with her other hand to help it focus. “This pendant is absolutely gorgeous. Penelope also included a note.”

 

She pulled the letter out of the box, along with the return postage. She carefully sat the postage on the side table, and the box on top of the stamps. 

 

“According to Penelope, this pendant used to belong to her great-grandmother. It was a gift from her great-grandfather before he left for the war. Penelope says that she always feels safe when she wears it, like her great-grandmother is still there.”

 

Faye carefully held the pendant and closed her eyes. She reached out with her mind, searching for any sign of anyone there.

 

“I’m getting a sense of something,” she said slowly. “Definitely kind and motherly, but it’s not enough to say for sure that your great-grandmother is still here, Penelope. Of course, as my regular viewers know, sometimes entities don’t want to come out and talk at the first meeting. So I will be holding on to all of these for a week and will keep you updated on any spiritual activity on my Patreon. And in two weeks I will post a follow-up video here.”

 

“Now let’s see what else we have.” She grabbed the second package. This one she recognized as she had packed it herself.

 

It had taken her three months to figure out that she needed to have something she was sure was haunted for the episodes. Regular people were not so good at picking out haunted items. Three months of nothing coming out to play had led to followers leaving her. So now she trolled the second hand shops in her area, looking for anything that called out to her, literally.

 

“This is from Bendan,” she said, making up a name on the spot. She tore into the package and drew out the candelabra she had found the other day. She proceeded to waste the next few minutes making up a backstory for the candelabra. Mostly it was what she had gleaned from the seller at the shop and what she sensed from the candelabra itself.

 

Finally, she was at the last box. It was larger than the other two. Quickly, she cut the tape on the box and pulled the flaps open.

 

“This is gorgeous,” she breathed, pulling the clown doll out of the box. It was a delicate yet heavy doll. It felt like the real deal. Its face was delicately painted, its body made of artfully dyed silk. Little sequins and jewels dotted the fabric. She sat the doll in her lap.

 

“Let’s see what we know about this beauty,” she said, reaching for the note in the box. She almost dropped the doll in the process.

 

“I found this at a thrift store,” she began to read as soon as she’d resettled the doll in her lap. “Something felt off about it. I thought maybe you could tell me for sure?” She sat the note down on the side table.

 

“Well, let’s see what we can find out, shall we?” she asked. Her eyes drifted closed as she held the doll close to her body. She felt nothing. There was an emptiness where the doll was. She sighed, opening her eyes again.

 

“I’m sorry, Lynnette,” Faye said. “I’m not feeling anything here. Of course, I’ll update with anything that comes up. Sometimes, though, items just have a feeling without having anything there.”

 

“So that concludes the first part of this week’s episode. Look out for updates on my Patreon, which I will link to below. You can also follow me on Instagram. And please, like and review this video! Bye!” She waved at the camera, doll still sitting on her lap. She waited a few seconds before carefully setting the doll on the table so she could stand up and turn off the camera.

 

~*~

 

It was several hours later that Faye noticed the first disturbance from having the new items in her apartment. She was editing the footage from that morning when she noticed it. It was when she almost dropped the doll. She had missed it when it happened because the doll was slipping, but there was something odd about the way the doll moved. It wasn’t flopping around as much as a soft body doll should be. It wouldn’t have been odd except that the doll delicately crossed its ankles as Faye got it settled in her lap.

 

Faye grabbed her phone and turned the camera on herself.

 

“Hey, guys,” she started the recording. “Just a quick update on the doll sent by Lynnette. I was editing the intro footage for it, and look at this.” She turned the camera towards the computer screen and hit play.

 

“I wouldn’t say it’s definitive proof of an entity being attached to it, but maybe I was wrong about the doll,” she said, turning the video back to herself. “I’ll get the intro video uploaded later tonight, and you can all tell me what you think in the comments. Love y'all!” She clicked the end record button and rewatched the video. It was decent enough for a Patreon teaser video.

 

Faye was used to having spirits in her house. They came in on everyday items, even buying things new didn’t stop them. She was used to seeing a strange man sitting in one of her chairs, drinking from a cup of coffee every morning. She had never gotten him to communicate with her, but he did it faithfully. Every day he would sit at the breakfast table and drink from a cup that didn’t really exist and read the same newspaper article before getting up and walking out the door. Faye had never figured out exactly what he was attached to, but she really didn’t care. He was just an echo.

 

There was also an old lady who Faye would occasionally find sitting on her couch, knitting. This spirit would make small talk with Faye and tell her all about how she was knitting a blanket for her grandson. Faye never had the heart to tell her that her grandson had died in the same car accident as she had.

 

There were a few other spirits around her house that came and went. They would move things around or be present at random. Faye was used to them. She just set up her wards and talked to the ghosts that understood her about boundaries and went with it.

 

She never let a new item into her bedroom unless she knew it wasn’t haunted. Most spirits were nice, but she had had a few run-ins with some nasties before. One such spirit had tried to kill her in her sleep. And so Faye kept wards around her room, and had a decoration made of black tourmaline and blue kyanite. She wore a staurite necklace always. And she cleansed her room weekly.

 

Which is why she was surprised one day when she woke up to find Lynnette’s clown doll at the foot of her bed.

 

“What the fuck,” she gasped, scooting up to the head of her bed. She grabbed her phone almost on instinct.

 

“Hey guys, weirdest thing,” she said, recording herself. She kept glancing towards the doll, making sure it hadn’t moved closer. “It is-” she glanced at the clock “-fuck. Three a.m.” Not a good sign. Three am was considered part of the witching hour. Most good spirits she had met didn’t mess around at three am. It was the favorite time of bad ones, however. “Anyways, as you know, I don’t bring things I haven’t cleansed into my bedroom. But somehow Lynnette’s doll is here, at the foot of my bed, watching me sleep.”

 

She knew the non-believers that followed her would say she brought it in there herself. Just like they said she faked its movement on camera. She didn’t do this for them.

 

Faye shut off the camera and threw her phone back on the bedside table. She buried her face in her hands and sighed. Sometimes dealing with spirits was too much.

 

She got out of bed and grabbed the doll carefully. She shivered as something touched her mind. Maybe whatever it was was just too shy yesterday.

 

She put the doll back on the shelf she had left it on last night and went back to her room. There was no way she was going back to sleep now that she knew the doll could get through her room. She might as well cleanse and re-ward the space.

 

The rest of the day was quiet for the most part. Neither Penelope’s locket, Lynnette’s doll, nor the candelabra were up to anything. Faye spent a good chunk of the day talking with the little old lady ghost from her couch.

 

It wasn’t until that night that the doll acted up again. Or at least Faye assumed it was that night. She didn’t notice it until she was getting out of the shower. She took one look at the mirror before gasping and running for her room. She quickly threw on a pair of pajamas and ran back for the bathroom.

 

By the time she made it back the note had faded from the mirror. She turned on the hot water again and closed the door. It would take a minute for the words to reappear. She turned her camera on and turned it towards herself.

 

"Hey, guys," she said, brushing her wet hair out of her face. She knew she didn't look the part of mysterious psychic now, but her dedicated watchers were used to it by now. "I just saw something that I thought you would like to see." She turned her phone towards the mirror where the words were starting to reappear.

 

"Sorry if I gave you the heebie-jeebies last night, doll," she read. "Just wanted to see you." There was a little heart next to the words.

 

"I'm not sure if this is Lynnette's doll or something else writing to me, but it definitely wasn't here yesterday." She clicked off her camera and went to clean the mirror, but stopped short. Maybe she should leave it for now.

 

Faye slept poorly that night. She woke at every noise, which, being a Friday night in a New York apartment, was pretty noisy. She would look for the doll at every sound, sure that it was coming back for her with a steak knife. She knew it wasn't likely that the doll could get through the warding, and even if it could, it wouldn't be able to come through negative intentions; her wards specifically protected against things like murder.

 

By the time Faye woke, she was already exhausted. She needed coffee and she needed it now. She quickly got dressed for her yoga class and decided to stop for donuts and coffee on her way. It would be good for her to spend so much time away from her apartment and all the new activity.

 

Something was off when she returned to the apartment though. She smelled oranges wafting through her apartment, which was unexpected to say the least. She followed her nose to the kitchen, where a fresh plate of cookies was sitting on the counter.

 

"Did I sleep bake?" Faye asked herself, picking up one of the cookies. She shrugged, taking a bite of the cookie.

 

She grabbed her camera. She turned it to the cookies, not wanting everyone to see her post-workout hair.

 

"Hey, guys," she greeted. "This is definitely a new one. I was out all morning and came home to these. Penelope, did your grandmother ever make orange cookies?" She had to assume it was the supposed grandmother haunted necklace. Who else would make cookies for someone they didn't even know? "Let me know in the comments!" She clicked the camera off and sat it down on the counter. She got a glimpse of Shanyn sitting on the couch, doing her knitting again. She grabbed another cookie and headed into the den.

 

"Hey, Sharyn," she greeted. "How's the knitting?"

 

"Good," Sharyn replied, smiling warmly at Faye. "I think I'll be done in time for Caleb's birthday." Faye smiled back at her, but knew it didn't ring true. Sharyn was always almost done. Tomorrow she'd be working on the same row again.

 

"Have you been here for a while?" Faye asked. Sharyn was the only ghost in her apartment that could remember more than the last five minutes. Maybe she could tell her more about the cookies.

 

"Been here all morning," Sharyn confirmed. "Had to get an early start, I only have a few days left to finish this."

 

"Right," Faye glossed over it. She had tried to tell Sharyn that both she and her grandson were dead before, but Sharyn had refused to believe it and pouted for a month. When she finally returned, she acted like nothing happened, and Faye wasn't going to break that. "Have you seen anyone else around? Maybe an older woman?"

 

"No," Sharyn sighed. ,"I wish, I would love the company. Oh, not that you aren't great, but someone my own age."

 

"So no idea where these cookies came from?" Faye asked, holding up the last of her orange cookie.

 

"Well, there was a young girl here," Sharyn said, frowning. "She headed into the kitchen and then came out and read a book. That book." Sharyn pointed towards a book open on Faye's desk. Faye recognized the book. It was a book of Shakespeare's sonnets from her college lit class a few years ago.

 

"She was so pretty," Sharyn continued. "She had on one of those fringy dresses. She must have been heading to a costume party." Faye barely heard her, as she looked over the book. It was open to Sonnet 61.

 

Is it thy will, thy image should keep open

_ My heavy eyelids to the weary night? _

_ Dost thou desire my slumbers should be broken, _

_ While shadows like to thee do mock my sight? _

_ Is it thy spirit that thou send'st from thee _

_ So far from home into my deeds to pry, _

_ To find out shames and idle hours in me, _

_ The scope and tenor of thy jealousy? _

_ O, no! thy love, though much, is not so great: _

_ It is my love that keeps mine eye awake: _

_ Mine own true love that doth my rest defeat, _

_ To play the watchman ever for thy sake: _

_  For thee watch I, whilst thou dost wake elsewhere, _

_  From me far off, with others all too near. _

 

On top of the book was a single red rose taken from the silk flower arrangement Faye kept on her coffee table.

 

"Fuck, I've got to talk to this ghost," Faye breathed. She was so distracted she’d forgot to even grab her camera.

 

It took Faye an hour to set everything up. It was a cheap ouija board, but it had worked well in the past. She carefully moved the clown doll, setting it down on the other side of the board. She moved a few crystals around and lit a stick of sage for some extra protection before turning on her camera and sitting opposite the doll.

 

Here, looking at the doll head on, she suddenly felt silly. It was a doll, a small doll at that. Why was she getting so worked up over it? She hadn't even thought it was haunted at first, but now she could feel the energy pouring off of it.

 

"Hello," she said, fixing the doll with a stare. She took a deep breath reaching out mentally. "Is there anyone here with me?"

 

She felt the planchette move under her hand. "Yes."

 

"Have you been manipulating the doll?" she asked, pulling the planchette back to the middle.

 

"Yes," she read as the planchette moved again.

 

"And the mirror, the cookies, the poem - was that all you as well?"

 

"Yes" again.

 

"What's your name?" Faye asked. She followed the shuttle around the board, reading the letters. "J-o-s-e-p-h-i-n-e." She had to think for a moment, spelling it out. "Josephine," she said, finally putting the letters together. She hated doing this alone. She needed someone to keep track of the answers the ghost was giving her.

 

"Can I call you Jo?"

 

The shuttle moved to "yes" again.

 

"So Jo-" Faye paused, unsure of where to go from there. Normally talking to ghosts was easy, almost easier than talking to people. But there was something about Jo, that made her heart flutter. It must have been too long since Faye had had a date; she was starting to feel jittery, like the last time she had seen a cute girl.

 

"Why couldn't I feel you earlier?" Faye asked.

 

"I-d-o-n-t-l-i-k-e-p-e-o-p-l-e," Jo responded.

 

"You don't like people?" Faye asked trying to spell out what Jo had said. "Then why me?"

 

"Y-o-u-l-o-o-k-l-i-k-e-s-o-m-e-o-n-e-i-u-s-e-d-t-o-k-n-o-w," Jo spelled. Faye wished she could have used a free hand to write the letters down as Jo spelled things out.

 

"Who?" Faye asked.

 

"C-l-a-u-d-i-n-e," Jo spelled back.

 

"Was she your friend?" Faye asked.

 

"G-i-r-l-f-r-i-e-n-d," Jo corrected so quickly Faye almost missed it.

 

"Oh, cool." Faye felt her heart sink a little. She almost asked if they were still together, but given that Jo was dead, that seemed like a bad thing to bring up.

 

"What's the significance of the doll?" she asked. Most ghosts didn't just choose an item at random to haunt. It had to be significant.

 

"C-l-a-u-d-i-n-e-g-a-v-e-i-t-t-o-m-e." Jo paused but then the planchette moved. "R-i-g-h-t-b-e-f-o-r-e-i--"

 

"Died?" Faye said hesitantly when Jo trailed off. Ghosts didn't normally like talking about their death. It was a risky question.

 

Faye felt a surge of energy from across the table. She almost let go of the planchette as flashes of memories entered her brain. A girl, who looked so much like Faye it must have been a memory of Claudine, giving her a present. Her staring down at the doll. Kissing Claudine. Them going to a club, sitting cozy like in the back of the speakeasy. A loud bang - police raiding the club. Pain radiating out of her chest, blood on her fingers. Looking around desperately for Claudine and not finding her.

 

"I'm sorry," Faye said as the vision faded. "That must have been horrible."

 

"I-t-w-a-s," Jo wrote back. "B-u-t-i-t-w-a-s-y-e-a-r-s-a-g-o-i-m-o-v-e-r-i-t-m-o-s-t-l-y."

 

"So is this the first time you've come out for a haunting then?" Faye asked.

 

"Yes."

 

It was such a relief for a single word answer again.

 

"And it was just because I look like Claudine," Faye asked.

 

"A-t-f-i-r-s-t," Jo wrote back.

 

"But now?" 

 

"I-m-i-g-h-t-b-e-c-a-r-r-y-i-n-g-a-t-o-r-c-h-f-o-r-y-o-u," Jo spelled out, fast. Faye had to stop herself from giggling, but she couldn't stop smiling. She wasn't sure how to respond.

 

"I-" the planchette started to move again.

 

"I-s-t-h-a-t-o-k-a-y-?"

 

"Yes," Faye said, laughing just a little. "I'm fine with that. I actually am very okay with that."

 

"G-o-o-d," Jo spelled back.

 

~*~

 

Faye clicked through her footage of the ouija board session. She was splicing the footage together for her Youtube follow up video. She watched her own face in the recording as she read Jo's words. That was working out quite nicely. It was odd dating a ghost, but what in Faye's life wasn't odd.

 

Finally happy with the final cut, she went to record her final summary.

 

"Hey, everyone," she said, waving at the camera. "It's been a week since my last video and I wanted to give you all an update. Starting with the least haunted, Bendan's candelabra. I still feel something, but it seems to be a low-grade haunting, just a little residual energy." That recap didn't matter. There was no one out there waiting with baited breath for that summary.

 

“Penelope's locket. I never saw your grandmother, but Sharyn, my otherworldly roommate did mention having a lovely chat with her." It had been a last minute surprise. Sharyn was already knitting when Faye got up for coffee. She mentioned the conversation in passing. "It's been a crazy week, and I can say without a doubt that Lynnette's doll is haunted. I know there's a lot of non-believers out there, but if you had been here this week, you would believe as well."

 

She felt a warm presence beside her. Jo was there, she knew it. She was smiling like a fool. Some of her followers might comment on it, but she didn't care.


End file.
